Former BJP Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur today, said, a change in power in Himachal Pradesh was necessary to bring the state back on the rails.
Talking to media persons, he said the Congress government had proved to be a failure on all fronts in 18 months of rule in Himachal Pradesh and it was only worried to ‘save the chair’ with no concerns for development.
He said the Congress had lost all four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh recently, following which the Congress high command had formed a committee to review the reasons.
“When the report from Himachal goes, definitely there would be talk of change in Congress leadership in Himachal Pradesh, which the high command had already promised when they had sent a team of observers here following turmoil in the Rajya Sabha election in February this year. Some Congress leaders in HP and the Centre are on this job to ensure the leader is changed in Himachal. But a change in leadership would not do. There has to be a change in power if we want to save the state,” Thakur said.
Thakur said the Congress government was exposed on the corruption front as scams are coming to light in 18 months of rule.
“As alleged by BJP MLA, Sudhir Sharma, there is a scam in allotment of tender in State Electricity Board. The Rs 175 crore tender is being allotted in Rs 245 crore. It is a big issue. Questions have been raised on the tender allotment for school bottles also as it is alleged that the bottles are being purchased at very high rates, while the quality is very poor. The government has been giving protection to all those doing corruption,” he alleged.
The BJP leader said the recent raids by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department in Hamirpur are pointing to the involvement of influential people of the Congress party in corrupt deeds, which is surprising.
“During the natural calamity last year, the government talked about having taken action against some mining violators, while benefiting many others,” he said.
He said the crime graph in Himachal Pradesh was going up in the Congress regime and there are broad daylight incidents of crime, like the one in Bilaspur where a former Congress MLA’s son was involved, are becoming common in the peaceful state. “No development works are being done. No guarantees are being fulfilled. Crime is increasing. What kind of ‘Vyavastha Parivartan’ is this?” he questioned.
Thakur alleged that the Congress government was harassing the three Independent MLAs and their families and was threatening them all through. He said the BJP got a good response from the people in the run-up to these three by-polls, which are being held today.
“People are coming out to vote in good numbers as they are now fed up with the failed governance of the present Congress government,” he said.
Alleging that the government has misused official machinery during campaigns for by-polls in Nalagarh, Hamirpur, and Dehra, he said the government had threatened government employees and their families that if they did not vote for Congress, they would be transferred to distant places.
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